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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24172957">Soft as Snow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LamiaCalls/pseuds/LamiaCalls'>LamiaCalls</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, First Kiss, Romantic Fluff, Snowball Fight, Snowed In, light emotional hurt/comfort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:20:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24172957</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LamiaCalls/pseuds/LamiaCalls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It should have been the first extramural match between the Hogwarts girl's Quidditch team and Durmstrang. Instead, the girls have gotten themselves snowed in at a hostel in Norway.</p><p>Or; Lily tries to bring relief to a claustrophobic Narcissa.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Narcissa Black Malfoy/Lily Evans Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fandom 5K 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Soft as Snow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmweasley/gifts">hmweasley</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you to thinkatory for the beta!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lily found Narcissa in the kitchen of the little hostel, pacing up and down on the cold linoleum floor. She was wearing just a nightdress, and, even in the dim light, Lily could see her shivering in the thin material.</p><p>“Narcissa?” she said softly.</p><p>Narcissa’s head snapped up. There were tears in her eyes, and her mouth was twisted in what Lily could only identify as distress.</p><p>“What is it?” Lily said.</p><p>“Nothing,” Narcissa said quickly. She straightened up, dried her eyes conspicuously, but she wasn’t fooling anyone, especially not Lily. “I just came down to get water.”</p><p>Lily had only come down for water too, but she wasn’t shedding any tears about it.</p><p>“Seriously, Narcissa,” Lily said. She took a step towards her, but when she reached out to put a hand on Narcissa’s shoulder, the other girl stepped back. “You can tell me if something is wrong.”</p><p>“Nothing is <em> wrong </em>. I’m fine,” she said. She stuck her chin out. “Just a bit homesick, is all.”</p><p>That didn’t sound like the truth at <em> all </em>. There was that haughty, challenging expression on Narcissa’s face, the one that told Lily she was never going to win. Lily narrowed her eyes. Luckily, she never gave up, even in unwinnable situations.</p><p>“Is that right? Then why didn’t you send an owl home with the rest of us earlier?” Lily said.</p><p>“Because—well, because—I don’t have to explain myself to you!” Narcissa finally spluttered. “I’m going to bed. I don’t have to stand for some kind of inquisition from a Gryffindor.”</p><p>Lily snorted. “An inquisition — I’m trying to check you’re alright!”</p><p>Narcissa swept past Lily, only stopping when she reached the doorway.</p><p>“You’ve done a marvellous job!” Narcissa said. Then she turned, and Lily heard her heavy footsteps as she stomped up the stairs.</p><p>Lily opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Narcissa’s parting shot had brought her back down to Earth; fighting with Narcissa wasn’t exactly the best way to get someone to open up. She’d forgotten herself. There was just always something about Narcissa that made it hard not to rise to her bait. Not, of course, that the other girl was to blame for Lily’s carelessness. Even at the best of times, her instincts to challenge what was being said rather than acquiesce got her into trouble.</p><p>She sighed, grabbing a glass of water as she had intended. Perhaps it really was homesickness. Merlin knew, she had had enough of being trapped in the snowed-in hostel, and she wouldn’t blame Narcissa for feeling the same.</p><p>Still, when she went to bed, she was sure she could hear soft weeping coming from the bunk above her. Of course, it was hard to tell over the roaring sound of Dorcas Meadowes’ thundering snoring.</p><p>***</p><p>The next morning, after breakfast, Lily found herself where she had for the last two days: in the hostel’s common room, stretched out on the sofa, while Dorcas told her about the boy she’d been dating back home.</p><p>They had been trapped for two days. Apparently, Madam Hooch was not adept enough at weather magic to help, and while Durmstrang had told them they would look into it, to Lily’s knowledge, they had not heard back. Even the owls they had sent the morning before had no guarantee of getting back to England in any fine time.</p><p>Of course, Hogwarts would know about the situation soon enough, but with the weather as it was, and the majority of them not apparition certified, getting home meant the arrangement of a portkey, which would take several more days.</p><p>So, instead, the girls’ Quidditch team was left stranded in a pokey little hostel in the far northern stretches of Norway. They would have been staying in Durmstrang itself, if it hadn’t been for the dragon attack only a few weeks ago which had destroyed much of their dormitory space. It had been the most perfect storm, really, for all of this to happen, plus the worst storm Norway had seen in years, in the same stretch as the first extramural Quidditch tournament.</p><p>Luckily, it also meant they were skipping school. While Lily liked school well-enough, and was very good at it, she couldn’t bring herself to care that she was missing the endless homework, the droning of Binns <em> or </em> dealing with her Gryffindor male cohort when they got rowdy.</p><p>“Then I told him I couldn’t come because of the Feast, you know,” Dorcas was saying. She lay on the floor, with her bum against the sofa, her legs reaching up to rest on Lily’s own. Dorcas shuddered. “Merlin, is there a draft in here? I’m still freezing.”</p><p>The tiny common room had an even tinier fireplace, but Hooch had rigged it up to be giving off a lot more heat than it might normally. But now Lily paid attention, she was right: she could feel a chilly draft cutting through her cardigan.</p><p>She tapped Dorcas’ legs, who obediently swung them away.</p><p>“I’ll go see if there’s a window open somewhere,” she said.</p><p>“I’ll make us tea,” Dorcas responded, getting up herself.</p><p>“Perfect,” Lily said. She knew she liked Dorcas for a reason.</p><p>Lily wandered out of the common room, and down the hallway. Most of the doors in the hostel seemed to lead to dank storage rooms, though occasionally she opened the door onto an empty and dusty-looking dormitory. The Hogwarts girls’ team were the only guests, as had been arranged by Durmstrang.</p><p>It got chillier as she walked along the hallway, until finally she found herself in some kind of secondary lounge. It was empty, except for the figure standing at the door, which was slung wide open. Snow was blasting in, and Lily scowled.</p><p>“What the fuck are you doing?” she said. She marched over to Narcissa, who stood in front of the door, her wand out.</p><p>“Leave me alone,” Narcissa hissed, and continued with her incantation.</p><p>“You’ll freeze us all half to death,” Lily said. She pulled Narcissa away from the door, who let out a whine. Still, she slammed the door shut, and rounded on the Slytherin girl. “Are you mad? You’ll catch pneumonia if you carry on like this! What were you even doing?”</p><p>“I was trying to melt the snow!” Narcissa said. There was something strained, panicked in her tone. Her eyes kept darting to the door. “Please, I just want to do this!”</p><p>Lily took a step back, keeping her hands on Narcissa’s arms. There was something strange going on here, but she couldn’t tell what just yet. She wanted to shout at Narcissa, but she saw the panic in the girl’s eyes. She had already made the mistake of fighting with her once, and she wouldn’t do it again. She let out of a breath.</p><p>“Narcissa, what’s wrong?” she said, gently. “What’s going on here?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Narcissa said. She stuck her chin out, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Just…leave me alone.”</p><p>Narcissa turned tail and, just like the night before, stomped out of the room, leaving Lily wondering what to do. Lily stood, wondering whether to follow her. Ultimately, she thought she might want to be left alone. Besides, she had her own friends, much closer than Lily, who could comfort her if she needed.</p><p>“Lily?” Dorcas said, sticking her head round the doorway. “Did you and Cissy have a fight?”</p><p>Lily shook her head. “She’s just upset for some reason.”</p><p>“When isn’t she?” Dorcas rolled her eyes. “Jeez, it’s freezing in here! I made tea, come and get it.”</p><p>Lily followed her out, but she was half-distracted for the rest of the afternoon. Narcissa was curled up in an armchair in the corner for much of the day, staring out the window and fidgeting restlessly. She didn’t speak to many of her friends. When Lily went over, she was not much interested in talking.</p><p>“Hey, I’m sorry about earlier,” Lily said softly. She fell into a squat, so she wasn’t staring down at Narcissa. “How’re you doing now?”</p><p>Lily half-expected Narcissa to clam up again, maybe spit something angrily at her. But instead, she softened.</p><p>“I’m doing okay, thanks,” Narcissa said. Her voice was barely a whisper, so Lily had to lean closer to hear her. “It’s just—“ She paused, and sighed. “It’s just a bit much, in here.”</p><p>“It is,” Lily said softly. She leaned over, gave Narcissa’s knee an awkward pat. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help, alright?”</p><p>Narcissa’s mouth parted for just a moment, as if she might say something, but then she just nodded. Lily squeezed her knee, before pulling herself upright. She went in search of a new book to read.</p><p>At dinner, Lily sat next to Dorcas, who immediately leant over to talk into her ear.</p><p>“I found out what was up with our Cissy,” she whispered. As always, Dorcas’ whisper was someone else’s foghorn. Lily waved her off — too many prying ears. But she pulled Dorcas aside straight after dinner, where Dorcas continued: “Claustrophobia. Penny told me. It’s not usually too bad, but being trapped in this place for a few days? Well, it’s enough to give anyone cabin fever, isn’t it?”</p><p>Lily couldn’t argue with that.</p><p>***</p><p>She spent most of the rest of the night thinking on what she could do to ease Narcissa’s distress. While most of the team spent the evening lounging in the living room, playing gobstones or trading stories, Narcissa had remained on the tiny armchair in the corner, eyes unable to stop their study of the window.</p><p>Lily came up with an idea while she was brushing her teeth.</p><p>She lay in bed, listening to everyone’s breathing go soft and steady. They allure of staying up late and chatting lost its shine when they’d spent three days not doing anything new.</p><p>Finally, when the fidgeting and tossing and turning had finally come to an end, she slipped out of the covers. It was cold, but she’d worn a jumper to bed specifically to prepare for this. She padded over to the bunk opposite her, and reached a hand out to gently shake the girl encased in a duvet there.</p><p>“Narcissa,” she whispered. It sounded so loud in the quiet room.</p><p>“Hrm?” came the sleepy reply. She saw Narcissa’s eyes flutter open, the whites shining in the dark. “What do you want?”</p><p>“Get dressed up warm, and meet me outside the door in 5,” Lily whispered.</p><p>“What are you on about?” Narcissa said. Her voice was thick with sleep. “It’s the middle of the night, Lily.”</p><p>“Shhh, just do it,” Lily said.</p><p>And before Narcissa could argue further, Lily tiptoed out of the room. Instead of waiting, she made her way quietly down the stairs to grab their coats from the lobby, where they had laid untouched for days. Most of her professors, she knew, would have set up some kind of motion sensor spell that would alert them to the girls wandering about the hostel. But Hooch wasn’t that kind of professor. Either she hadn’t thought about doing it, or she trusted her star Quidditch players enough to let them get away with most things.</p><p>For good measure, she also grabbed their brooms. It was easier to recognise Narcissa’s, even if she hadn’t known it before: the only pristine one, with not a twig out of place. The handle had been varnished to within an inch of its life, and it was monogrammed — NB. Before seeing that the first time, many months ago now, Lily hadn’t even realised that brooms <em> could </em> be monogrammed.</p><p>The brooms were a little unwieldy, but she managed to get back to the door of their dorm without making too much of a racket going up the stairs.</p><p>Narcissa was leant against the door, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and looking none too pleased to be awake. But her eyebrow cocked as she saw Lily appear with the brooms and jackets.</p><p>“I have a lot of questions,” Narcissa said. But her lips quirked, just for a second, into something Lily would call a smile. “Mostly they consist of asking what the hell you’re up to.”</p><p>Lily shoved Narcissa’s jacket into her hands.</p><p>“Put this on. And follow me.”</p><p>Much to Lily’s surprise, Narcissa obeyed without complaint. Well, as long as a little bit of huffing and tutting didn’t count as complaining. She followed Lily, being nowhere near as catlike in her movements, but quiet enough that Lily hoped no-one would be alerted about their late night ramblings.</p><p>The hallway was long and wide. There were about nine doors on either side. It was the biggest hostel Lily had ever seen, though, she supposed, she hadn’t seen many. The wood beneath their feet was luckily sturdy and didn’t creak or groan too much as they made their way along it, towards the window at the far end.</p><p>Through it, Lily could see that it was no longer chucking it down with snow, as it had been that morning. It was now a soft snowfall, with fat, round snowdrops. Perfect. She didn’t want them to freeze to death.</p><p>The snow had covered the entirety of the ground floor, leaving only about half the ground floor windows visible. It was just high enough that Lily reckon it would work just fine</p><p>Of course, that was as long as she could get the window open, which was stuck fast. She tried with all her might, but, finally, Narcissa pushed her out of the way and charmed the window unstuck.</p><p>“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this,” Narcissa said.</p><p>She stepped aside to allow Lily to jimmy it open. A rush of cold air turned Lily’s cheeks pink, and she shivered. She pulled her coat on.</p><p>“If you had told me the problem earlier, I wouldn’t have figured something out sooner,” Lily said. She tried to keep her tone light, but there was clear admonishment in her voice that she couldn’t disguise. So, to avoid arguing, she swung herself out of the window. It was a two foot drop to the snow below, and she landed heavily. Behind her, a thud told her that Narcissa had joined her.</p><p>Narcissa took a huge breath, and her face, so surly the last few days, finally broke out in a grin. She looked around her.</p><p>“It is gorgeous out here, isn’t it?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Lily said. “It actually is.”</p><p>Much of the snow around them was untouched, save for a few animal prints that criss-crossed across the top. The points of a bird’s foot, the tiny paws of some rabbit or vole awoken from its hibernation somehow. Lily hoped that, whatever it was, it would survive this terrible snowstorm. Hopefully it would find refuge in one of the evergreen trees that stood proudly head and shoulders above the blanketed snow.</p><p>There were not many roofs peaking above the snow, as the village they were staying in was fairly small, but there were marshmallow plumes of grey smoke emerging from those she could see and frost-bitten windows betrayed some lights within.</p><p>She dropped her broomstick, and leant down. She scooped a handful of snow, rolled it into a ball, and turned around, throwing it at Narcissa with her chaser’s aim. It hit Narcissa, who had been looking about herself like Lily had, square in the chest.</p><p>She let out a little cry of surprise. Lily had taken a risk, and watched with much anticipation as a few emotions flitted across Narcissa’s face: shock, followed by confusion, followed by anger, and finally, she smirked in Lily’s direction.</p><p>“Oh, you’re going to pay for that.”</p><p>Lily let out a breath. It was always a coin toss for whether Narcissa would be up for silliness, but apparently cooping her up in a hostel for days was a way to get her in a playful mood.</p><p>“Only if you can catch me,” Lily said.</p><p>As quick as she could, she scrambled onto her broom, and bent low to grab some snow as she took off, flying towards the houses. She heard Narcissa laugh behind her, and then she was in the air too. But the snowball she threw at Lily went flying past her.</p><p>They flew between the rooftops, the trees, circled round the small ramshackle church whose spires reached into the deep winter night sky. Periodically, Lily would fly close enough to the ground to lean down and grab enough snow to form a snowball, and Narcissa did the same behind her. Lily had gotten used to these games with her non-Quidditch friends, where she could best almost all of them. Not so with Narcissa, who was a Beater. Each icy ball packed a punch, and there were a few times where Lily, laughing her head off, almost toppled right off the broom. Lily, though lacking the upper arm strength to do much damage, at least had one over on her on aim, hitting Narcissa every time she rounded a corner behind Lily, and overtaking her whenever she got ahead.</p><p>It was dark, but they were breathing so loudly, it was hard to miss, and their jackets had luminescent strips that shone in the moonlight and gave them away. Their hooting and whooping, as much as Lily, and she suspected Narcissa too, tried to contain it, was thankfully dampened by the thick snow beneath them, stealing their voices like an evil witch in a fairy story.</p><p>They played for maybe an hour, before finally Lily tipped herself off her broom as they approached the hostel, landing gratefully in the surprisingly hard-packed snow. She was sweating and hot as hell, but her fingers were icy cold. Narcissa, not a minute later, arrived. She didn’t throw herself off her broom, though, merely alighted elegantly and lay herself besides Lily. But she had a bigger grin than Lily had ever seen on her.</p><p>“I needed that,” Narcissa huffed. “I <em> really </em> needed that.”</p><p>Lily turned her head to look at her.</p><p>“Actually, I think I did too,” Lily said, grinning like a loon. “We should get the rest of the girls out here tomorrow.”</p><p>“Oh Merlin, do you think we’d be allowed?”</p><p>“Do you think Hooch will stop us?” Lily said.</p><p>Narcissa squinted, before nodding. “I suppose not.”</p><p>They lay, panting side by side, for a while. Lily flexed her fingers, trying to bring the feeling back.</p><p>Next to her, Narcissa began to rustle. Lily looked over. The Slytherin was making herself a snow angel. Lily cackled, and joined in, flexing her tired arms in the snow while looking up at the stars. They didn’t speak. They didn’t really need to.</p><p>But eventually, the cold started to find its way into her jacket. She cast a warming spell on the both of them, but it wasn’t enough. The sweat was starting to dry and make her shiver.</p><p>“Come on,” Lily sighed. “It’s freezing.”</p><p>Narcissa, who was shivering just the same, hesitated.</p><p>“I promise, we’ll come out here tomorrow,” Lily said. She lifted herself from the snow, dusting herself off, before offering a hand to Narcissa. Narcissa looked at the hand for a long moment before she took it and allowed herself to be hauled from the ground.</p><p>They took one final look around, at the perfect blanket that spread out before them, now marred where they had scooped up snow. Most of the lights that had been on in the cottages were now extinguished, and the night was darker than ever.</p><p>Lily threaded her fingers of either hand, and gave Narcissa a boost. Narcissa was a full four inches taller than her anyway, and managed to easily pull herself across the frame. Lily then handed up the broomsticks, before making her own ascent. She was not nearly as elegant in her scrambling up the wall, which she wanted to blame on the lack of boost and their height difference, slight though it might be, but knew she just didn’t have the grace that Narcissa always carried herself with.</p><p>Lily had to remind herself to be quiet, now that they were back indoors. It was hard for her eyes to adapt back to the lack of light, after having been surrounded by so much white.</p><p>“Take off your shoes,” Narcissa whispered, pointing downwards.</p><p>Lily frowned before she realised how much quieter they could be if she wasn’t clomping about. Once she was in her socks, she took one of the broomsticks from Narcissa, and followed her down the hallway, being extra careful to keep her tread light.</p><p>But Narcissa, much to Lily’s happiness and surprise, did not stop at the door to the dorm, instead leading Lily down the stairs and into the kitchen. She whispered a candle-lighting spell that soon flooded the poky little kitchen with light.</p><p>“I could kill for a cuppa,” Lily said.</p><p>“Or,” Narcissa said, a smile spreading across her face, “We could have some hot chocolate.”</p><p>“I would kill my own grandmother for some hot chocolate right now,” Lily said wistfully. “But do they even have any here? I didn’t see any powder when I looked.”</p><p>Narcissa wrinkled her nose.</p><p>“I’m not talking about powdered hot chocolate, yeuch. I’m talking about real, honest-to-Merlin hot chocolate.”</p><p>Lily quirked an eyebrow. “Is this the part where you tell me to look under my chair?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Lily shook her head.</p><p>“Muggle stuff, don’t worry,” Lily said, chuckling at Narcissa’s confused expression. “Just where do you expect us to procure enough chocolate for that?”</p><p>“Are you kidding? You think I’d come to the freezing climes of the arse end of Norway without my own supplies? Oh, Lily, you underestimate me.”</p><p>There was something so self-satisfied about the look on Narcissa’s face that Lily had never seen before. It was extremely adorable.</p><p>“Well. In that case, I’d like to order one hot chocolate, if you’d please,” Lily said, with a dramatic flair towards the little gas hob.</p><p>“I’ll be back in a minute,” Narcissa said. “Don’t move.”</p><p>She disappeared out into the hallway, and Lily could hear her soft footsteps on the stairs back up to the dorm. Leave it Narcissa to not only smuggle hot chocolate onto a school trip, but to hide it in her suitcase because she didn’t trust her teammates not to drink it.</p><p>Though, as Lily thought about it, it was probably a wise choice. She herself would have been tempted sorely by it, if she’d known about it before.</p><p>The kitchen looked strangely romantic in the candlelight, rather than rundown and worn as it looked during the day, when sunlight managed to make its way through the gap at the top left by the snow.</p><p>Lily pulled herself up to sit on one of the countertops. Her fingers were still cold, and she flexed them carefully, bringing the blood back into them. She wondered if anyone had heard them sneaking out, if they’d wonder what they were both up to.</p><p>Lily wasn’t sure why she had done this for Narcissa. Hell, Lily rarely knew why she often went out of her way to help Narcissa. They weren’t exactly friends — not enemies either, just two people who happened to move through the same circles. But the way Narcissa would smile, or that laugh that would fall out of her when she was unexpectedly delighted, it made Lily’s chest tighten in a way she kept wanting to replicate. Just to understand what exactly it meant.</p><p>Narcissa appeared in the doorway again, with a devilish grin on her face and holding up a wad of chocolate bars. Lily couldn’t help but stare at her. The way the candlelight threw her sharp features into relief, the way she looked framed against the dark hallway.</p><p>Narcissa’s smile faltered.</p><p>“You’ve not changed your mind, have you?” Narcissa said, dropping her hand to her side. “We can go back up, if you’re too tired.”</p><p>Lily shook her head.</p><p>“No, sorry! Was just thinking about…something,” Lily said. She wasn’t sure she could articulate what she was thinking if she tried. “Come on, I’m not going to be happy until I’ve got a mug of steaming chocolate in my hands.”</p><p>Narcissa’s smile returned. “Right.”</p><p>She pulled out a pot from beneath the counter, and began to heat up milk on the stove. She broke the chocolate into hefty chunks, and put them in, all the while, muttering a charm to turn the spoon just so, to keep the flames at just the right level. Lily wanted to ask why she didn’t just adjust the knob by hand, but she had learnt too many times before the wizards and witches brought up by magic parents often seemed to favour using magic, whether it were necessary or not.</p><p>She wore such a look of concentration as she surveyed the contents of the saucepan that Lily’s heart hammer just that little bit faster. She shook her head. Clearly, sneaking out and throwing snowballs had turned her insides funny.</p><p>“Get some mugs out,” Narcissa said.</p><p>When Lily didn’t move and instead just quirked an eyebrow at Narcissa, Narcissa took a full ten seconds to notice. She looked up, and then rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Get some mugs out, <em> please </em>,” Narcissa said, but her tone was full of mirth.</p><p>Lily hopped down off the counter, and grabbed some mugs. Narcissa poured the thick brown liquid in. Somehow, she managed it without a single spillage or splash.</p><p>“Thank you,” Lily said. And she meant it. A warm mug between her hands, the smell of chocolate wafting up to her… It made her realise how sick she, too, was of staying in the hostel. How much she would have rather been back at Hogwarts.</p><p>But then, she supposed, she wouldn’t be standing across from Narcissa, whose hair fell across her face in such a pleasing way when she bent her head to take a sip. Her head bobbed back up, and she gave Lily a pained expression. Lily couldn’t help but laugh.</p><p>“Too hot?”</p><p>“By half,” Narcissa agreed, biting her lip.</p><p>They stood in companionable silence for a while, opposite each other and each blowing into their mugs. Each plume of steam coming off it wrapped Lily in a cone of chocolatey goodness, and she could barely resist burning her tongue. She was pretty thirsty, too, after all of their playing outside.</p><p>Finally, after a few minutes had passed, Lily went in for a taste. It was just cool enough, though still difficult to swallow, but that hardly mattered. It was gorgeous, velvety and thick and unctuous.</p><p>“Merlin, Narcissa, this is heavenly,” she sighed, taking another big gulp, hissing as it burnt her throat.</p><p>“Isn’t it?” Narcissa said, who was also wincing at the heat.</p><p>When they’d almost finished their mugs, Narcissa looked up at Lily, her blue eyes sparkling in the candle light.</p><p>“Thank you, by the way,” Narcissa said.</p><p>“For what?” Lily said.</p><p>She didn’t know why she was playing coy. Then Narcissa gave an exaggerated little sigh of exasperation that she sometimes did, and Lily realised exactly why she was pretending to not know.</p><p>“For taking me out,” Narcissa said. Her voice was quiet, soft. “I really needed that.”</p><p>Lily shrugged.</p><p>“I know,” she said. “And it was good for me too, you know? I hadn’t realised how crazy the place was driving me.”</p><p>“It’s a bit mad in here at this point, isn’t it?” Narcissa bit her lip. “Do you think we’ll be able to go home soon?”</p><p>Lily wanted to tell her that yes, they’d be out of here before she knew it. But she also didn’t want to lie to her.</p><p>“I’m honestly not sure,” she admitted. “I hope so, though.”</p><p>Narcissa nodded, but didn’t look surprised. Lily reached out a hand, brushed Narcissa’s arm.</p><p>“We’ll get everyone outside tomorrow, it’ll be nice,” she said gently. “And look… If you get stressed out, just tell me. I want to be able to help.”</p><p>Narcssa’s cheeks went pink, and she looked away from Lily for just a second before looking back.</p><p>“You’re very nice,” Narcissa said. “Thanks, Lily.”</p><p>Lily shrugged. “Any time.” She squeezed her shoulder. She didn’t know what came over her, but she found herself brushing some of Narcissa’s hair back behind her ear, so she could see her face more clearly. It was a small thing, yet suddenly she was aware of how close they were standing, how quiet the hostel was around them, pressing them in. Aware of how easy it would be to lean forward and…</p><p>All the while, Narcissa watched her carefully. Narcissa didn’t move back or away. In fact, it felt almost like she were leaning into Lily’s hand, which now cupped her cheek.</p><p>She swallowed, unsure of herself, feeling lightheaded now as she contemplated it.</p><p>She didn’t have a chance to worry for too long, though, as Narcissa was now the one leaning forward. Her eyes fluttered close and Lily was drawn, almost like a magnetic field or accio spell, towards her.</p><p>Her lips were soft and warm, and she tasted like chocolate. Lily threaded her fingers through her thick hair, feeling the damp spots still from the snow. Lily parted her lips, stuck her tongue out tentatively, but Narcissa responded in kind, and with much less hesitation. Lily’s breath hitched, her heart hammered. If she wasn’t holding the blasted mug in her hand, she would have scooped Narcissa up entirely.</p><p>After what felt like only moments and yet at the same time centuries, they parted. Lily’s cheeks had heated, and she was pleased to see Narcissa’s had done the same. She looked so pretty in the light, biting her lip, with that small, secret smile.</p><p>“So,” Lily said. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling, as much as she wanted to play it much cooler than this. “That was nice.”</p><p>“Mmmhm,” Narcissa said.</p><p>The silence was thicker now, but Lily was revelling in it nonetheless. What a pleasure to even share awkward silence with Narcissa.</p><p>Lily looked up at the clock behind them.</p><p>“Shit,” she said. “We should go to bed.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Narcissa agreed. There was a hint of regret in that voice. They quickly cleaned up their mess, to ensure they wouldn’t incite the wrath of (or have to give any explanations to) their teammates. But before they could go back upstairs, Lily grabbed Narcissa again, and pulled her for another kiss.</p><p>This time, with their hands free, they could both explore more freely. Lily loved the feel of Narcissa’s face between her hands, smooth and gorgeous.</p><p>They pulled apart again, breathless.</p><p>“Let’s do this again tomorrow night?” Lily said hopefully, following Narcissa out of the kitchen up the stairs.</p><p>“Definitely,” Narcissa said, grinning back down at her.</p><p>Before they slipped into the dorm room, Narcissa gave her a peck.</p><p>“Goodnight, Lily,” she said.</p><p>“Goodnight,” Lily said.</p><p>They snuck back in, Narcissa noticeably less noisy than Lily getting back into bed.</p><p>It was hard for Lily to sleep, though, with how full her chest felt with excitement. For the night she’d had, for what tomorrow would bring. And besides, it was hard to sleep when thinking about kissing Narcissa over and over and over.</p><p>But there would be time enough for that.</p>
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